Irish chef Anna Haugh is to open her first solo venture in Chelsea.

Haugh, who left her executive chef position at Bob Bob Ricard in October 2017, will launch Myrtle in March.

The chef will serve contemporary modern European food with an Irish influence, paying homage to her Dublin roots.

Originally introduced to cooking by her mother, the chef told Staff Canteen that when her mum’s friend suggested she become a chef at 17 it “was like saying ‘why don’t you be an astronaut?’”

“The career advisor at school made me think it wasn’t really a career option for women but when I went into a kitchen for the first time (simply to open tins of fruit cocktail!) it’s difficult to describe but I felt complete, it was love at first sight. I never looked back…”

Haugh’s CV includes a number of top kitchens, including Pied a Terre (in Shane Osborn’s time), The Square (under Phil Howard), and Gordon Ramsay’s London House venture.

The restaurant’s name, meanwhile, is an apparent tribute to her idol and fellow Irish-woman, Myrtle Allen, of Ballymaloe cookery school fame. The chef has been spending a fair bit of time there recently – if her social media is anything to go by.